The Year in News: Part 1

Nostalgia for stuff that just happened is so over. But remember how much fun it was? Welcome to Pitchfork's Year in News 2006. We'll take you on a magical month-by-month journey through the most notable stories of 2006, chronicling the ups and downs-- and random sideways twists-- of the cast of characters we cover in our news section.

Then, on January 19, came the death of soul legend Wilson Pickett . The voice behind such classics as "In the Midnight Hour" and "Land of 1,000 Dances", "Wicked" Pickett succumbed to a heart attack at age 64.

Ever the outlaw, Tom Waits successfully sued the Audi car company in the Spanish courts for featuring a piece of music ripping off his 1987 song "Innocent When You Dream" in one of their advertisements. Waits was awarded $43,000 in damages for copyright infringement, as well as $36,000 "for violation of his 'moral rights' as an artist."

In a statement, Waits said, "Now they understand the words to the song better. It wasn't 'Innocent When You Scheme' it was 'Innocent When You Dream'." Boo-ya!

California indie rock institution Grandaddy announced their break-up . "Everybody has been set free to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue, whether it be amateur poker playing, or [becoming] veterinarians, or working in a hot dog stand," bandleader Jason Lytle said in an interview with Pitchfork.